


What Old Friends Are For

by lorir_writes



Series: The Rebel [9]
Category: Rules of Engagement (TV), The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Near Death Experiences, mention of poisoning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26477197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorir_writes/pseuds/lorir_writes
Summary: The news of another assassination attempt makes Leo return to Cordonia earlier than he expected.
Relationships: Madeleine Amaranth/Leo
Series: The Rebel [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1259534
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	What Old Friends Are For

The road to Lythikos General Hospital was rather quiet that night. Leo, however, doesn’t know how to deal with quietness. Or hospitals. Shifting on the back seat of the car and constantly fiddling with his phone, he was unsure what troubled him the most: the assassins striking again after days since the attack at the Costume Ball or the person who they chose as a target this time.

“How much farther are we?”

“Six blocks, Sir.”

“Can you go any faster?”

“It stopped snowing a few hours ago. I cannot risk your safety, Sir.”

“Of course, I’m sorry,” Leo scratched the back of his head, then chewed on a nail. “Did Liam say anything about her condition?”

“His Royal Majesty wants you to know she was out of detoxification two hours ago. She’s on her private apartment resting.”

His hands clenched into fists at the thought of her in a hospital bed. He could almost see her disappointment, her green eyes searching around the room for her father or any of her so-called friends and finding out no one was there. The only ones who probably paid visits were her mother and his stepmother. Liam and Jade probably sent flowers, but most likely the wrong ones, since very few people know white and pink orchids were her favorites. Because she was cruel to all her former ladies in waiting, they certainly wouldn’t give a damn if she was okay. No one knew her well enough to care.

“Sir, we’re here,” the driver called.

“Thanks. I’ll call when I need a ride back.” Leo opened the door and climbed out of the car quickly and rushed to the main entrance of the hospital before any photographers realize he was there.

Greeting the Kingsguard and the hospital staff briefly, he marched through the halls without a single glance to anyone else. He couldn’t stand the idea of being in a place he hated. But he wanted to be there for her. On the hallway leading to her apartment, only security detail and a few hospital staff members walked by.

“Hey, Craig! Sup!” Leo grinned to guard by the door.

“Sir, Lady Madeleine only allows visits from her physician, Lady Adelaide, and Queen Mother Regina.”

“Craig, are you really going to say no to me?” Leo gave the guard a knowing look.

The guard shifted uneasily and stepped away from the door.

“I don’t mind the scolding. And don’t worry. This will not blowback on you.” Leo patted the guard’s shoulder and opened the door to the apartment.

A lump formed in his throat. Lying on the bed, a pale and thinner Madeleine slept soundly. It was unsettling to realize how fragile she looked, how close to death she was. Leo shook his head as if he tried to get rid of the thoughts of the worst-case scenario. Sitting on the plush chair near the bed, he quietly watched her sleep for a couple of minutes then reached for his phone to distract himself.

##  **…**

Little white flakes settled on the ground outside when Madeleine’s eyes fluttered open. The room was cooler than before, but she didn’t mind. She liked cold weathers. Though, she wouldn’t expect anyone to turn off the thermostat.

“Morning, Maddie,” Leo stood up and approached her with a cheeky smile.

“What are you doing here?”

“Turning off the thermostat for you.”

“Uh-huh…” She scowled.

“What?”

“I did not allow visits. Who let you in?”

“The door was open.”

“Leo!” She bellowed.

“I may not have titles anymore, but the kingsguard still does whatever I want if I ask them.”

“What do you want?” She hissed.

“I needed to see you.” Leo ran a hand through his hair. “When I heard about it, I couldn’t sleep… I had to know you were okay.”

“Were you worried?”

“You’re one of my best friends, Maddie. How could I not be?”

“I–” Madeleine trailed off. “I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t expecting visits.”

“Is that why you told the guards you didn’t want to receive visits?”

“I don’t have friends. Why would I bother to receive flowers from a bunch of asslickers?” She scoffed.

“Really? I thought you liked rim jobs,” he joked.

“Ugh… Can you not be a dick?” She folded her arms.

“No can do,” he shrugged smiling. “But there’s something else we can do.”

“I’m not having sex with you in a hospital bed, Leo.”

“Eww no. What the hell do you think this is? Grey’s Anatomy? No, I’m talking about this.” He picked up a large box with several gifts, flowers, balloons, and cards and placed on the end of her bed.

“Where did that come from?” Madeleine eyed the box confused.

“Since you didn’t allow visitors, the guards intercepted these gifts and I brought them to you. We both know it’d be rude to return.”

“Oh…” She looked down and tried to chew an invisible cuticle on her well-manicured, yet unpolished nails.

“May I?” He gestured to the box.

“Suit yourself.”

“Okay, let’s see. Three peonies bouquets from King Liam and Duchess Jade of Valtoria.”

“Not bad for a commoner crown chaser who hates me.”

“I wouldn’t call a woman in love with a King a crown chaser.”

She rolled eyes. “So they sent flowers every day… Interesting. She must be lost without me.”

“Isn’t this hatred mutual?”

“It sure is. This was Liam’s idea, obviously. He failed to know I prefer orchids, but peonies are suitable _get well soon_ flowers.”

“Daisies from Duke of Ramsford, get well soon balloons from Maxwell, poodles stuffed animals from Lady Penelope.”

“Oh my god, does she think about anything else than those stupid animals?!?”

“Hard to say.” Leo tried to hide a smile. “Pansies bouquet from the Duke and Duchess of Portavira, hydrangeas from the Duke and Duchess of Castelsarreillan, a gift basket from Trend Magazine…”

“Finally a good box. Give me that.”

He handed the box and she opened, picking up a magazine and smelling the bath salts and essential oils.

“Cartier box from Duke Karlington.”

Madeleine reached for a button to turn on a lamp next to her and opened the Trend Magazine edition, ignoring the name Leo mentioned.

“Don’t you want to see it?”

“No.” She flipped a page.

“It seems like a nice gift.” He inspected the red flat box.

“It always is. He has excellent taste in jewelry.”

“Is his taste as good as mine?” He smirked.

“No. His gifts are always impersonal. The same jewelry gives to me, he would give to my mother, to his mistresses, his commoner daughters…” She replied bitterly. “At least you know what I like.”

He gave a gentle squeeze on her hand. “I’m sorry he didn’t come to see you.”

“I’m fine. He’d probably come just to berate me and saying that I’m turning into my mother and a lady never drinks this much.”

“Little he knows Adelaide is fun one in his family and you should take after her,” Leo teased.

Madeleine glared at him.

“It’s true. You were at a party, you should drink as much as you want. You weren’t the only one getting hammered. Who could’ve known any of the drinks were poisoned?”

Madeleine gave her shoulders.

“Enough of that. Let’s get back to the get well gifts.”

“Are there more?”

“A few.” He looked into the box. “Swiss chocolate truffles from Lord Neville. White roses from Lord Rashad…”

Madeleine rolled eyes.

“I know he’s a sleaze and also a moron for giving you chocolates with cherry liquor filling, but these are really good and you can save them for later.”

“All right, I just have to hide them for my mother.”

Leo chuckled softly. “That’s the spirit. Moving on, emeralds encrusted dagger from Olivia,” he smiled.

“Of course. And in times like these, I can’t say it’s a useless gift.”

“True… Spa retreat gift card from Lady Kiara. This seems fancy,” he gave her the card.

“Well, I guess there’s hope for some people after all. Anything else?”

“Yeah…” he replied softly as he read the names on the two remaining gifts. “White orchids from Drake Walker and a gift box from Lady Hana.”

“What?!?” She picked up the delicate vase with orchids blooming and a note.

“Huh…” she stared at the note for several minutes.

“Did you and Drake have a thing going on?”

“No. We just had sex a few times, that’s all.”

“Behind my back? Maddie…” He placed a hand on his chest, pretending to be wounded.

“No, you jerk. Behind _your brother’s_ back,” she pursed her lips.

“Interesting…” He saw a hint of a smile on her lips she admired the flowers

“Are you jealous?” She smirked.

“You know that’s not exactly my M.O.”

“Mmhmm… Now hand me the gift box from Hana.”

He gave her the box, but his eyes lingered on Hana’s handwriting on the card.

Inside the box, Madeleine found books, fashion magazines, teapots and several of her favorite beauty products, including facial skincare, body skincare, and hair products. “I can use all of these while I’m here. That was…” She cleared her throat. “Thoughtful.”

“Yeah, she has a habit of doing that,” he mutters, a small smile playing on his lips as he recalled her note after his father’s memorial.

“What did you just say?” Madeleine arched an eyebrow.

“Uh, nothing… Wanna grab a bite to eat?” He grinned, changing the subject.

“I am hungry, but the hospital kitchen closed hours ago. Where would you find food at one in the morning?”

“Luckily, there are apps for that.” He fished his phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen a few times and put the phone back. “There you go. In twenty minutes we’ll have a bowl of chicken soup and a bowl of minestrone to warm us up.”

“That was fast… Thank you.”

“For the food? It’s fine. There’s a meatball sub with my name on it making its way over here as we speak,” he winked.

Madeleine shook her head smiling. “Not just for the food. For everything. Thank you, Leo. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Hey, that’s what old friends are for,” he replied, taking a seat on the bed with her. “How about we rewatch Scandal while we wait?”

“Sounds great to me.” She snuggled up against him as he flipped through the streaming service options.


End file.
